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Enjoy it, you'll wonder where the darn time goes.
I was able to do it after 30+ years at age 52 and have never been more relaxed...and busy. But it's MY busy.
Treat yourself to a ice cream at the Dairy Queen on the Wing

Steve Henson
SABMWRA MOA Club#62's Flat Fixer/ current forum moderator
It's not the breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away-D.Dillon/G. Strait

Toss The Timekeeper

One thing that I did: I retired in 2009 but tossed out my watch in 1998. Bought a Navaho bracelet at Missoula rally and wore it 24/7 since. Psychologically retired then I suppose but the point is: time. Throw away any time keeping device that is on your wrist. What do you need it for? Reverse/modify the thinking about the concept of time. - Bob

If I did that, how would I know it was time for my nap? All of the other devices that have time - microwave, coffeepot, radio, etc.just keep blinking a bunch of zeros.

It's not you Paul. The 'malfunctioning timepieces' are dead-on..... the correct time is zero (for retired folks anyway). As some old wise sort suggested..... "eat when you're hungry and sleep when you're tired". BTW, do you really take a nap at a particular time? - Bob

It's not you Paul. The 'malfunctioning timepieces' are dead-on..... the correct time is zero (for retired folks anyway). As some old wise sort suggested..... "eat when you're hungry and sleep when you're tired". BTW, do you really take a nap at a particular time? - Bob

No set time but I do need to be sure to start my nap soon enough that I'm not late when it is time to cook dinner.

Paul Glaves - "Big Bend", Texas U.S.A
"The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution." - Bertrand Russellhttp://web.bigbend.net/~glaves/

Congratulations! I am less than 5 years away myself, and as each month passes, the anticipation grows stronger. I plan to spend an entire summer touring the western US as soon as I put in my last day of work. I am sure I will have to do it on the "cheap" in order to be able to afford it, but I enjoy camping anyway, so I will be enjoying the best bike trip ever, regardless of the travel style.

Osbornk has it right. Once you have enough money to be relatively comfortable in retirement you need to pull the plug. Working any longer is just trading time for money and there may come a day when you would trade all of your money for just a little more time and that's a bad deal. Enjoy it. You've earned it and you deserve it.

Congrats

I just turned 60 in November and had planned on retiring at 62 and had been working towards simplifying, getting debt free, etc for the past couple of years.

Unexpectably I lost my job in October, and following the initial shock, I readjusted my thinking, evaluated my situation, and decided that I will classify this as "early retirement". If I can bridge the two year gap until SS kicks in, I will be successful.

Having been a junior enlisted man for the first four years after I first got married, and then 4 years of college with the GI Bill as my only income, my wife and I know how to live on the cheap. Our time together to pursue our interests is much more valuable than the lost income! BTW we are celebrating 40 happy years of marriage tomorrow.

A few other points

1. Figure out most of the things you think you would like to do when you retire - then do them as much as possible BEFORE you retire. Far too many people go from the boredom of a job they hate to the boredom of retirement with nothing they really want to do. (We all share ONE thing we like to do, but it's good to have a few more irons in the fire.) Pretty common for people without compelling interests that they developed before retirement to end up in the ground within 12 months of retirement.

2. With some jobs you don't have to go from 40 hours a week to zero. As a musician, I retired the part I liked least (private teaching) when I was about 50. At 64, I'm still playing principal clarinet in a small but professional orchestra and plan to continue as long as my playing meets the musical standards of that group - and hope I know when it no longer does. The challenge of playing classical music really well, as well as the social aspect means that this "job" still has more pluses than minuses for me and the least of the "plusses" is the pay check. I also still play jazz and R&B sax, again for musical satisfaction and social interaction more than the meager pay. So, if you LIKE doing whatever has been keeping you financially afloat, maybe you should keep doing it - just less, and on your terms.

3. If possible, stay reasonably physically fit or gradually get that way. (Tried cross-country skiing with wife and grandkids yesterday. A 25 year hiatus from that activity equalled three falls and a sore body today.) But I can still walk and ride a bicycle. Vow to do both much more regularly!

Given the demographic of the MOA, bet this thread doesn't die any time soon!

I just turned 60 in November and had planned on retiring at 62 and had been working towards simplifying, getting debt free, etc for the past couple of years.

Unexpectably I lost my job in October, and following the initial shock, I readjusted my thinking, evaluated my situation, and decided that I will classify this as "early retirement". If I can bridge the two year gap until SS kicks in, I will be successful.

Something similiar happened to me 30 years ago. There's only 10 more months 'til I reach 62 and the SS kicks in. Semi-retirement for the past 30 years has been great!

The greatest lesson I've learned from not having a regular job is how valuable a responsible person with free time is. The world is full of people with high paying jobs that don't have the time to do the things they want to get done, and they are willing to pay someone very well to do them. Imagine, getting paid to sail down to Cozumel and spend the Winter; who'd of thought someone would pay for that, but they did.

Life is full of opportunities. All you need is the time to pursue them.

Hey MARS,please keep me in mind to lay in on one of these sails as a hired hand/no pay hand etc.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As to above comments, r.e., "being in the ground within 12 months", I disagree, as modern medicine keeps some really unhealthy people alive for a long, long time-look around you! It is true that many retire w/o any real hobbies & the time in retirement is hard for them. There are also the ones that I hear say" I'm not going to "do" anything. While I cannot relate to that whatsoever, I guess it works for several I know that basically do nothing.
I happen to be one that could have been happy on my farm & in my shop with not working, a long time ago, as my ego turned loose of any aspirations to be "important" way in the past.Also I gradually come to know that there are some rides I'll never afford or have time for and just focus on whats doable. Another version is the person that must talk about their past work as they move through retirement, and in exacting detail. My wife & I both, we just walked away for the most part...enjoy your time that you can now prioritize yourself!
And YESSSSSSS! I want to cruise, always been on my bucket list!
Good health is obviously the main ingredient to an active & enjoyable retirement.

retired at 55 after 35 years in aviation

got a company pension, a military pension. social security and an ira.

sad thing is, i doubt that my grand kids will ever be able to retire...
freekin' country is broke. jobs being outsourced. taxes gooing up to pay the debt. more and more retired old farts (like me) less and less productive workers.
no money to pay law enforcement (they gotta pay the retired guys). violence/food prices going up.

think your pention (entitlement) is bullet proof? think again.

sthe only people with bullet proof pentions are in congress, pardners.

don't see anything on the horizon that's likely to turn this around
i'm afraid what's gonna happen is a major scio/political adjustment like a big war.

i hope it's not with china because they probably won't lend us the money to go to war with them.

did i mention that the state of health car for the unwashed masses is unlikely to improve? what about neculear insecurity?

i don;t see any ideas in congress other than

"we need to create jobs and be competitive in the world market".

brilliant

what are we gonna build that the world wants to buy and let the workers retire at 55 or even 65?

do the math. i've been trying hard to be optomistic. might work if i go back to drinking.

snip..... the joy and freedom of being retired and being able to ride everywhere all the time!!

/mod hat off/

hoho..... you haven't witnessed Mary's ToDo list Once my part is done then I can start a plan; once her's is done then we can go More seriously, Mary has been retired since 2005 and me since 2009. Lots of fun, projects and laughter. Our glass is always "half full". As a song says "if you're lookin for trouble, trouble will find you..... deaf, dumb and blind you..." (Steve Goodman I think). - Bob (on the "bright side of the road")